Bringing Sales Back

Justin Timberlake at Madison Square Garden

BRINGING SALES BACK

Sales of CDs are sagging—pendulous, even—and in the Internet era anybody who can sell more than a million units is a superhero. Enter Captain Timberlake: in just over four months, Justin Timberlake has inspired two and a half million people to buy his latest album, “FutureSex/LoveSounds.” Though a large share of credit should go to the producer Timbaland, whose brushed-aluminum beats make the album such a pleasure to listen to, Timberlake is no puppet. With neither the frequent traffic infractions nor the rehab antics of his young pop peers, Timberlake is ably sustaining the old-fashioned tradition of physical, real-time entertainment. When he appears at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 7, expect an unusually good dancer, an affable singer, and someone with a healthy sense of humor about his job. Opening for him is the singer Pink, whose last few albums haven’t done justice to her pugnacious spirit and strong voice. Live, she can adjust her set list to favor earlier, stronger material and make you forget recent lapses and, on a good night, maybe even the headliner himself.

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